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gdm-digest          Friday, November 20 1998          Volume 02 : Number 013




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 23:04:52 -0700
From: "Perry L. Porter" <[e-mail]>
Subject: ---> Mormon News

Thursday, October 29, 1998

Tragic tale of torture

By PETER SMITH, CALGARY SUN

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- An Alberta woman could face the death penalty in
Utah in connection with the brutal sex assault and torture of her
three-year-old daughter.

Rebecca Bluff, originally from Mountain View near the Alberta-Montana
border, was bound and beaten to death in her Salt Lake City home last
week, investigators say.

The little girl's mother, 26-year-old Ferosa Bluff, has been charged with
child abuse homicide in a case even veteran cops are calling the worst
they've ever worked on.

"This is just beyond comprehension," said Det. Richard Ninow of the Salt
Lake County Sheriff Department's juvenile crime unit.

"The little girl was tortured. She was badly beaten -- I mean severely,
severely beaten," he said.

The girl's two-year-old sister, Sarah, was found with bruises on her body,
but is in good physical condition and has been placed in state protective
custody.

Rebecca died Oct. 21 at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake
City after an adult in her home called 911 claiming she'd fallen down the
stairs.

But it quickly became clear to investigators Rebecca's injuries were the
result of a brutal beating and sex assault.

An autopsy report ruled she died from massive internal bleeding caused by
"multiple blunt force trauma caused by non-accidental trauma."

"She would have suffered for several days," said a shaken Peggy Faulkner,
deputy with the sheriff's office.

The child's body indicated injuries to her buttocks, vaginal area, legs
and back, including evidence of sexual assault. State medical examiner Dr.
Maureen Fricke concluded injuries to Rebecca's buttocks and feet were
consistent with torture.

Evidence seized this week at the home Ferosa Bluff shared with Andrew
Fedorowicz, 45, and Susannah Fedorowicz, 44, painted a horrifying picture
of bondage and torture.

Police discovered pornographic material depicting sexual bondage and
restraints, along with ropes, whips and other sexual devices that state
medical examiners say could have produced the type of injuries found on
the girl's body.

An addendum to the police search warrant revealed items found inside the
residence included computer-generated bondage photos, home-made videotapes
depicting adults involved in sexual acts and a magazine titled Naughty
Neighbors -- Young Girls Special.

Because of the evidence, prosecutors are working to have the charges
upgraded to aggravated homicide, a capital offence that carries a maximum
penalty of death.

Andrew and Susannah Fedorowicz are also being held on murder charges and
could also face the death penalty.

After Rebecca's death, Andrew Fedorowicz told deputies he had spanked the
child repeatedly in the previous two weeks in an attempt to discipline the
girl.

Rebecca "tried to kill her two-year-old sister ... and (he) had to spank
her for this," he says in the affidavit.

He also told police that after Rebecca fell down the stairs, he tried to
revive her by placing her in a bathtub.

At that point, he said he noticed blood coming from the child's vaginal
area, the affidavit states.

Resident Cali Murray, 16, occasionally babysat for the family. "Rebecca
was the sweetest girl," said Murray.

"She was so funny; she loved to play. She was just really, really sweet --
really pretty, too."

Ferosa's estranged husband Todd Bluff still lives in the Mountain View
area.

Police said yesterday he was in Salt Lake City trying to gain custody of
his surviving daughter.

A custody hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Previous story: Residents urge eye for an eye

- -------------------------

[I saw this on an other list I am on, and you know I agree with the
comments, he puts them rather strongly, but to get people's attention, you
have got to do more than mumble.

Here it is:  ]

- -------------

[You know it just makes me sick to read this.]

 The Arizona Republic (PHX)

 Chandler Community
 PARENTS PROUD OF WORTHY SON
 ART THOMASON, Republic Columnist
 3868 Characters
10/20/98
 (Copyright 1998 Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.)
   His heart bleeds.
   Dale Borden struggles for the right words.
   Words that elude him.

   Instead, we hear cold utterances from an agonizing father.
Callous words from a man who loves his son. Insensitive words that
pierce the toughest of our hides.

   Words that compel us to search for a deeper meaning.

   "I knew when he said them that there were people who were going to
take him wrong," Borden's wife, Myrna, tells me Monday.

   Myrna and Dale's son, Bradley, lay in a hospital bed 6,000 miles
from home, his upper torso perforated by a drunk's knife.

   The wrenching anguish of waiting -- unable to be at his bedside in
an eastern Russian village, unable to hold his hand or kiss his
forehead and tell him how much they love him -- is no different for
the Bordens than it is for any other parents.

   But now, the indelicate nature of public comments opens new wounds
- -- injury that this family does not deserve.

   "You see," Dale told reporters, "we'd rather have him come home in
a pine box than do something unworthy."

[That is such a sick and unbelievable statement, It is as if they don't
believe in repentance!!!  It is better to DIE make a mistake!]


   Dale Borden, no doubt, was using an expression that he had heard
many times, an exaggeration to underscore a point. An excess better
stated, perhaps, from the pulpit than on a lawn before reporters.


[NO from the Pulpit it gets the trappings of authority, but from the front
lawn, it sounds like a whacko, which he is.]


   Unworthy is a condition that Mormon missionaries work hard to
avoid. It is the antithesis of the missionary standard. It is sin,
it is violating the sanctity of mission work, breaking church rules.

[How did missionary work somehow become more sacred then life it's self,
the daily work of a marriage, family and making a living to stay alive and
well?]

   Ultimately, it can lead to excommunication.

   In the eyes of his parents and church elders, 20-year-old Bradley
Borden has long been worthy of the ministry he prepared for.

   His missionary indoctrination began at home and in the Dana Ranch
Ward, Mesa Kimball Stake, when he was old enough to appreciate the
meaning of living his life for Christ. Like every active Mormon, he
was consumed by the critical importance of God's ministry.

   There was always training through example. There were parents and
older siblings who conducted church missions.

   There were four years of early-morning seminary classes before the
start of public high school classes. Then there were two months of
intensive training at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah,
before the assignment to Russia.

   There are the rules that many of us perceive as isolating the
Bradley Bordens from the mainstream of a society.

   No socializing with the opposite sex, no movies. No personal or
telephone contact with Mom and Dad or other family members except on
Mother's Day and Christmas.

[As a young 19 year old boy, I accepted such rules as necessary, as a
grown adult, I find them without rhyme or reason.  If there is a divine
principal that contact with one's loved ones diminishes the quality of
one's efforts, then that principle should hold true at times other than a
mission!  Should I not call and talk to my Daughter at USU for another 4
years until she is done with School, except for 3 holidays a year?


This rule is such utter bullshit!  If a missionary is so home sick that
talking to his parents makes the son so home sick that he can't stand it
any longer, then maybe he had better go home and grow up first.  But to
have such controlling rules that smacks of a bad cult, hardly seems
Christian.

If sons talking to their parents causes them to lose the spirit to the
extent that they no longer feel like doing missionary work, what kind of
external social pressure is keeping them in the mission field in the first
place?  How did these people ever become worthy to serve a mission, by
living around such spiritually devoid parents in  the first place?  Was it
Early morning seminary that gave them their moral foundation?

All I can say is when my children go on missions if they need to talk to
their Dad, no stupid is going to stop them!]


   Bradley didn't break any rules of the church or Russian law. For
this, his family is elated.

[Geeesh, they seem more concerned that he kept mission rules, than if he
is alive?   Knowing how stupid some mission rules are, that would not make
me feel much loved by my family.  Unconditional love?  No, love
conditional on me living sometimes very arbitrary and illogical mission
rules!]

   Had he violated the tenets of his ministry, Myrna and Dale would
have been heartbroken.

[Shit would somebody please slap there people!]

   But they do not place their son on a sacrificial altar. They are
relieved beyond belief that he is alive.

[Boy this contradict their previous statements, doesn't it.]

   "In our our own heart, the thought he would break a mission rule
and be sent home is hard for us to think about," she said. "But
that's not to say that we would ever prefer him to be killed.

[Apparently the mother didn't hear what the father said.  What kind of
parents would prefer to have their children DEAD?  Yet being sent home is
a same that death would almost be preferable!  EEEK!]

   "We would do anything for him. We are very proud of our son,
proud that he took two years out of his life to do something very
important to him and to us, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

   "We are very proud of him and proud of what he did insofar as this
attack on him. We would do anything for him. If there was anything
we could do for him now, we would do it."

[How about cutting the poor guy some slack, he is going to feel extreme
pressure to live every possible rule to the nth degree, least people don't
think that he should have died instead of his companion.]

   It seems like you're doing as much as you can, Mrs. Borden. And
I'm sure that Bradley is comforted by it.

[Of course you couldn't call him and tell him such, like normal people
would, but you can't  because that would be breaking the asinine rules
that came down, supposedly, from the very top!

This father is the one that the day after he was informed of the attempt
on his son's life said "we are excited for him to get back to doing
missionary work".

Hey this guy was stabbed.  He could have been killed, also, but was not.
His companion WAS kill.  Hey give him a week or slack to recover from the
trauma, having his companion killed in front of him.  The success of
Mormonism is NOT hinging on whether this young kid gets in a solid 70
hours of missionary work in each week of this month!

What is hinging in the balance is mental stability of this young man's
entire life and what other people's superstitions, that he may be saddled
with for the rest of his life.

A cult that required unconditional and illogical conformity to the most
minute of rules and regulations, is an unsafe cult unworthy of thinking
human beings!

If these people represent the feelings of most Mormons, and considering
my own lack luster mission experience, should I feel I am just barely
worth of living?  Or should I be hyper dedicated to make up for the fact
that my mission was NOT the best two years of my life?  I think not.


I will just try to be a good person, self motivated, because it seems like
the moral thing to do and be a good father to my children and not burden
them with cult like expectations of conformity to silly little rules made
up my very small minded men.  And make sure my children know I love them
before they have real life experiences and that I love them just as much
after those experiences! ]




- -

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 22:41:52 -0700
From: "Perry L. Porter" <[e-mail]>
Subject: ---> Possible end of the world, (Y2K)

- ------------------

Senator Bob Bennett (Utah) chairs the U.S. Senate's Y2K Committee.
Enclosed also are comments regarding a meeting he had with the 1st
Presidency.

                          -----Original Message-----

I thought people might be interested in what Senator Bennett said about
the year 2,000 computer problem.  He spoke at a McLean Stake Fireside in
October.  The follow are notes taken at the fireside: Notes taken by Steve
Nichols, a member of the Arlington Ward, McLean, Virginia Stake in October
1998.

On Sunday, our stake had a family preparedness fireside on the year 2000
(Y2K).  The speaker was Senator Bennett of Utah who is the chairman of the
Senate Committee on Y2K.  I went to the fireside thinking that it would be
interesting, but also thinking that Y2K was not a big deal.  Senator
Bennett convinced me otherwise.

The Y2K problem will be an unbelievably widespread problem that we each
need to start preparing for right now.  Anything that is controlled by a
computer or a computer chip may malfunction in dangerous and unpredictable
ways at the beginning of the year 2000.

Unfortunately, everything is controlled by a computer these days.

To illustrate the problem, Senator Bennett told the following stories: To
test a water treatment plant, the plant management rolled the clocks ahead
to 2000 to see how the computer systems of the plant would react.

The computer responded by immediately dumping all the chemicals it had
into the water supply instead of slowing dispensing the chemicals as it
was supposed to do.  The water was then poison and unusable.

At a General Motors factory, the management also rolled the clocks ahead
to see what would happen.  The result was that none of the robots on the
assembly line would work.  The factory was useless.

Moreover, when the inspectors tried to leave, the security system refused
to let them out of the building.  Elevators have to be inspected regularly
by law.  When the year 2000 hits, elevators may think they have not been
inspected for 99 years.  When an inspection is missed, most elevators are
programmed to go immediately to the basement and close their doors until
the inspector comes.

Don't get in an elevator New Year's Eve 1999.  In January 2000, Senator
Bennett does not think that the national power grid will fail, but thinks
that some areas will inevitably experience extended brown and black-cuts.

Supplies of natural gas and telephone communications could also be
interrupted.

Long distance telephone communications will almost certainly be
interrupted.

The FAA has been unable to guarantee that its airtraffic control system
will not fail in January 2000.  This may reduce domestic flight by 40% and
make it necessary to ration air travel.  International travel will be
worse.  The Federal Reserve thinks that it will be able to continue to
clear checks and other bank transactions for the country, but each
individual bank or brokerage may be unable to continue to do business.

Chairman Greenspan informed Senator Bennett that the Fed is printing an
extra ten billion in paper money to handle the run on the banks that is
expected as people convert their money into cash before Y2K.  Senator
Bennett told of warning one of his daughters about these problems.  His
daughter asked if he has spoken to the Church.  He thought that was good
idea, so he contacted an employee at Church headquarters responsible for
worrying about these kinds of problems.  That employee assured Senator
Bennett that the Church has, or is, upgrading all of its computer systems
to deal with the problem.  Senator Bennett then asked if he could question
this Church employee.

The senator wanted to know how the Church is going to contact missions,
temples and members around the world when the international and national
phone systems won't work; how the Church is going to transfer funds around
the world with the banking systems not working; how the Church will
respond to members who are out of work for three months or more because
the equipment at the factory or office where they are employed is
malfunctioning. The Church employee had to admit that while the Church has
fixed its own systems, they had never considered how they would be
affected by other systems that had not been fixed.

Senator Bennett was then invited to a meeting with the First Presidency,
Council of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, etc. to brief them on the Y2K
problem.  Senator Bennett told the Brethren that he had been asked by
someone in government when the Mormons were going to start warning their
people to get ready for the year 2000.  President Faust immediately
responded, "We've been warning them for thirty years."

A major complication of the Y2K problem is that it will be a problem
world-wide.  While all the problems I have described above will happen in
the U.S., we will be relatively well off.  Senator Bennett said only five
countries in the world including the U.S. are doing anything significant
to address the Y2K problem (Japan is NOT one of the five.

The five are the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Singapore and one other).

This will cause huge economic upheaval in many countries.  Senator Bennett
was informed that the New York Stock Exchange has been refitting and
testing its computers and thinks it will be able to continue trading in
the year 2000.  However, the Senator expects most exchanges in foreign
countries to be shut down.  For this reason, he cautioned us about
investing in foreign stocks.

It is anticipated that the economies of some countries will be devastated
for decades by the Y2K problem.  This anticipated turmoil around the globe
will inevitably cause a deep recession, at least, in the United States.

You may wonder why we don't just fix this problem before it's too late.

The answer is, it isn't possible.  Senator Bennett has been informed that
there are 160 billion lines of computer code around the world that have
the Y2K problem.  For every four lines that are fixed another error in the
program is created.  Therefore, everything has to be fixed, tested and
then re-fixed.  There simply are not enough skilled people or time left to
do the job.  Moreover, that does not include checking all the embedded
computer chips that run everything from your car's transmission to your
thermostat to your elevators to your children's toys.

Senator Bennett illustrated the cause of the Y2K problem with the
following Allegory.  A new wife was making a ham for her new husband.  She
cut off both ends.  When the husband asked why, she replied that it makes
the ham taste better.  "Who told you that?"' he asked. "My mother," she
replied.

The husband went to his mother-in-law and asked if she cut off the ends of
ham.  She replied that she did.  When he asked why, she replied that it
made the ham taste better.  When asked who had told her that, she
indicated that she had learned it from her mother.  The husband then went
to his wife's grandmother and asked if she cut the ends off a ham before
cooking it.  She said she did.  When he asked why, she replied that it was
just habit, when she was young, the family oven was too small for a whole
ham, so they cut the ends off to make it fit.

When computers were first being developed, they were not powerful enough
to easily process dates with a four digit year.  Early programmers used a
two-digit year and saved millions of dollars.

The early programmers, working in the '60s assumed that their programs
would be obsolete by the year 2000 and that later programmers would use
four digit years.  The new programmers learned from copying the old
programmers, and nobody ever started using four-digit years.  Anyway,
that's the problem, the question is what should you do about it.

Here are Senator Bennett's suggestions.

(1) Check with all your banks, brokerages, and other financial
institutions as to their preparedness for the year 2000.  If they can't
assure you that they will be able to continue to do business as usual,
move your assets to a place that can.

(2) Keep hard copies of your financial records and get up-to-date hard
copies near the end of December 1999.

(3) Have everything you need on hand for at least three months by December
1999 (food, water and fuel (January is cold)).

(4) Expect a recession in 2000 and plan your finances accordingly.  Keep
some cash on hand.

Needless to say, after listening to Senator Bennett we are very concerned
and are trying to get better prepared for this-crisis.

We hope this warning may help you do the same.

- -------------------------------

[This was forwarded to me by a friend, and I don't know what list Chris is
on]

Thanks to subscriber Chris Crosby <[e-mail]> for this reference.
In an article about the Y2K problem, the Richmond (Virginia)
Times-Dispatch mentions a Baptist group using the LDS cannery to preserve
some dried food.

"It's people like these who have transformed the quiet and rather obscure
Mormon cannery -- one of 88 in the country -- into a bustling enterprise,
said cannery manager Susan Henshaw.

"'Since July, everything has mushroomed... like a nuclear bomb,' Henshaw
said. 'It is just incredible.'

"She said they're happy to see the newcomers because it gives them a
chance to spread the Mormon faith, which has long stressed the importance
of food storage and self-sufficiency."

[It appears that Mormons are starting a panic, I hope it isn't a self
fulfilling prophecy]

- -----------------------------

Subject: Joseph Smith the prophet

Journal entry from the personal journal of Joseph Smith concerning the
remarkable Leonid meteor storm of 1833 (which also happened in 1866, 1899,
1932, 1965, and last night). From _The Diaries and Journals of Joseph
Smith_ edited by Scott H. Faulring.

Note: written material inserted above the line in the original has been
inserted into the text and enclosed in right-angled slashes (for example,
/above line/ ). Current editor's correction of mis-spelled items are in [
].

November 13th Nothing of note transpired from the 4th of Nove[m]ber
u[n]til this day. In the morning at 4 Oh clock I was awoke by Brother
Davis knocking at /my/ door saying "Brother Joseph come git /up/ and see
the signs in the heavens." I arrose and beheld to my great Joy the stars
fall from heaven. Yea they fell like hail stones. A litteral fullfillment
of the word of God as recorded in the holy scriptures and a sure sign that
the coming of Christ is clost [close] at hand.

Oh how marvellous are thy works Oh Lord and I thank thee for thy me[r]cy
u/n/to me thy

servent. Oh Lord save me in thy kingdom for Christ['s] sake.  Amen.

November 19th /AD 1833/ From the 13th u[n]till this date nothing of note
has transpired since the great sign in the heavins. This day me /h[e]art/
is somewhat sorrowfull but [I] feel to trust in the Lord the God of Jacob.

I have learned in my travels that man is treche[r]ous and selfish but few
excepted.

(continues on to remark on some weaknesses of Sidney Rigdon, does not
record anything else about the meteor storm.)

[This should temper those that wish to jump to conclusions about the
significance of the turn of the century, that are not justified.]

- ---------------------


[Now a closer look at what Bob Bennett had to say]


> banking systems not working; how the Church will respond to
> members who are out of work for three months or more because the
> equipment at the factory or office where they are employed is
> malfunctioning. The Church employee had to admit that while the
> Church has fixed its own systems, they had never considered how
> they would be affected by other systems that had not been fixed.


[Ah haaaaa, that is why GBH said last conference to get out the debt, the
Church Welfare can not handle millions of member and even more non-members
out of work for 3 moths!]


> Senator Bennett was then invited to a meeting with the First
> Presidency,
> Council of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, etc. to brief them on the
> Y2K

[Isn't this the cart before the horse?  Doesn't the 1st Presidency and 12
have the ear of GOD?  Shouldn't they REALLY know what Y2K problems there
will be?]


> problem.  Senator Bennett told the Brethren that he had been asked by
> someone in government when the Mormons were going to start warning
> their people to get ready for the year 2000.  President Faust
> immediately responded, "We've been warning them for thirty years."


[What!

The Y2K problem is a COBOL and PC problem.  Many Main frames store 4
digit dates properly.

30 years ago there were no PC's, with limited memory and hard disk space,
where 2 digits to represent a year would save something.

And I don't think the Leaders of the church were arguing COBOL programming
standards 30 years ago.

Therefore; Faust must be thinking that the world is ending in 2000?

What else could they be warning us about, the short term thinking of DOS
2.1 !!!!  Or Bios chips in IBM PC's ?

Did anyone see a proclamation by the 1st presidency, in the "Embedded
Systems Journal", for he last 30 years ?

When some Mormons make crack pot remark, many Mormons get worked up, and
then, when it turns out to be bogus, Members just ignore it.]

> A major complication of the Y2K problem is that it will be a problem
> world-wide.  While all the problems I have described above will happen
> in the U.S., we will be relatively well off.  Senator Bennett said only
> five  countries in the world including the U.S. are doing anything
> significant to address the Y2K problem (Japan is NOT one of the five.

[This IS a serious problem.]

> trading in the year 2000.  However, the Senator expects most
> exchanges in foreign countries to be shut down.  For this reason,

[So is the church pulling out of all of it's foreign stocks?

In which stocks does the church keep the lords money anyway?]


> he cautioned us about investing in foreign stocks.  It is anticipated
> that the economies of some countries will be devastated for decades
> by the Y2K problem.  This anticipated turmoil around the globe will
> inevitably cause a deep recession, at least, in the United  States.
> You may wonder why we don't just fix this problem before it's too late.

[We can not fix other countries problems.

Well actually we could.  All male programers, and software managers, could
be called on a 6 month to 12 month mission to SAVE THE WORLD FROM Y2K.
They could go out in Jan of 1999 and be home before Xmas having at least
informed and consulted all major banks and businesses world wide about the
evils of Y2K.

Not that might create major chaos at home in Utah with all of them leaving
work for 6 months to a year, but hardly unlike what was done by their
GGGrand fathers.

And if they saved the world, it could do more PR than all the public
Service Announcements and Free books and warm fuzzy video's could possibly
do.]


> The  answer is, it isn't possible.  Senator Bennett has been informed
> that there are 160 billion lines of computer code around the world
> that have the Y2K problem.  For every four lines that are fixed another
> error in the program is created.  Therefore, everything has to be fixed,


[Oh MY Goodness!  How could we ever get anything done, if we created a bug
for every 4 lines of code.

In software testing the term we use is bugs per kloc or bugs for Thousand
Lines of Code.  If you have 5 or more KLOC, you have bad programmers.  Now
imagine how stupid they would have to be to have 250 mistakes for every
1000 lines of code.

With an average of 1 mistake in every 4 lines or 250 mistakes in a
thousand, how do we ever get computers to work at all!!!

Apparently Bob Bennett doesn't know much about computers.]

I know someone that worked on a project where we had 1,600 programs to
check for Y2K bugs, 35 programs has had at least one problem.  Of the 35
only one or two had a problem in more than one place in the same program.
The largest program was 4,200 lines long.  So they did lots of work, and
came up with only a handful of programs that had any problem.  It only
took a few weeks to change them.  Of the 35 changed programs only one had
needed fixing twice.  In the process there were other programs, not Y2K
related in which bugs were found and fixed.

His company is not typical of other software houses because they do not
use
COBOL, but they use the OS that the church office Building USED to use,
before they went into a more expensive direction.

Note that Australia uses this type of OS/database in many many companies,
therefore watch for them to NOT have Y2K problems like other countries.]


> tested and then re-fixed.  There simply are not enough skilled people
> or time left to do the  job.  Moreover, that does not include checking
> all the embedded computer chips that run everything from your
> car's transmission to your thermostat to your elevators to your
> children's toys.


[When they started the project over a year ago, the deadline to have
everything done and installed was July 1st 1998, now it is July 1999.  So
even though they started early, they got behind.  There are too many lines
of code and not enough programmers and not enough time for other companies
to fix, test and implement all the fixes.

Yes Y2K will be a problem, but if your kids toy fails to work, obviously
you
are not a 3rd world Mormon.]


> When computers were first being developed, they were not powerful
> enough to easily process dates with a four digit year.  Early
> programmers used a two-digit year and saved millions of dollars.

[The extra 2 digits for a 4 digit year, it take up precious memory in Ram
and Hard disk for a personal PC.  Which was a glorified typewriter and
calculator, not a replacement for a mainframe computer.  As the cost of
memory and hard disk space was no longer an issue, then is when the 4
digit year should have been addressed.

Businesses choose to us a personal computer as a business computer and
they
bent over to save millions for a few years, while down the road, it will
cost them Billions for those savings in previous decades.

Typical current quarter bottom line mentality, without long term
analysis.]


> The early programmers, working in the '60s assumed that their
> programs would be obsolete by the year 2000 and that later
> programmers would use four digit years.  The new programmers
> learned from copying the old programmers, and nobody ever
> started using four-digit years.  Anyway, that's the problem, the
> question is what should you do about it.

[More precisely they didn't stop to think, even though 1999 is less then
2000, that mathematically 99 is more than 00.]


> Here are Senator Bennett's suggestions.
> (1) Check with all your banks, brokerages, and other financial
> institutions as to their preparedness for the year 2000.  If they can't
> assure you that they will be able to continue to do business as usual,
> move your assets to a place that can.

[Come on Bob, you LIVE in DC, what Bank is going to tell you the they are
NOT Y2K compliant or that they don't plan to be?  Are they going to tell
you they PLAN to be out of business before 2000 ?

Try getting it in writing, that if you don't have access to your money or
if they debit you with mistaken late fees, that you will richly
compensated
for it.  Or if your Credit card get's wrongly rejected that they will
compensate you for the trouble.

Come on Bob you were once a lawyer.]


> (2) Keep hard copies of your financial records and get
> up-to-date hard copies near the end of December 1999.


[When these businesses are going to be their busiest, Bob is going to
create more work for them, out of paranoia.

A self fulfilling prophecy.]


> (3) Have everything you need on hand for at least three months
> by December 1999 (food, water and fuel (January is cold)).

[It's a TWO years supply, Bob, don't you know how to create hoarding or a
panic!  :)

Now how can I store 3 months of natural Gas ?

And if I do, but it is NOT needed, then what do I do with the Gas and
storage tanks?

What do I do for hot water if it takes 6 months to work things out?

Convert my environmentally friendly gas fireplace to a wood stove?]


> (4) Expect a recession in 2000 and plan your finances
> accordingly.  Keep some cash on hand.


[Create an artificial run on the banks.

Now who is going to make money on this?

Not me for sure.]


> Needless to say, after listening to Senator Bennett we are very
> concerned and are trying to get better prepared for this-crisis.
> We hope this warning  may help you do the same.

[And though a little preparation, like a month of food may be good, much
other than that, will cause problems of their own.  During the Great
Depression, some people lost everything, and a few ended up with all that
the other people lost.  I hope we are not contributors to a situation
where greedy and powerful people can use panic to become even more wealthy
and powerful.]



Perry     <[e-mail]>    http://pobox.com/~plporter

- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 22:42:00 -0700
From: "Perry L. Porter" <[e-mail]>
Subject: ---> Possible end of the world, (Y2K)

- ------------------

Senator Bob Bennett (Utah) chairs the U.S. Senate's Y2K Committee.
Enclosed also are comments regarding a meeting he had with the 1st
Presidency.

                          -----Original Message-----

I thought people might be interested in what Senator Bennett said about
the year 2,000 computer problem.  He spoke at a McLean Stake Fireside in
October.  The follow are notes taken at the fireside: Notes taken by Steve
Nichols, a member of the Arlington Ward, McLean, Virginia Stake in October
1998.

On Sunday, our stake had a family preparedness fireside on the year 2000
(Y2K).  The speaker was Senator Bennett of Utah who is the chairman of the
Senate Committee on Y2K.  I went to the fireside thinking that it would be
interesting, but also thinking that Y2K was not a big deal.  Senator
Bennett convinced me otherwise.

The Y2K problem will be an unbelievably widespread problem that we each
need to start preparing for right now.  Anything that is controlled by a
computer or a computer chip may malfunction in dangerous and unpredictable
ways at the beginning of the year 2000.

Unfortunately, everything is controlled by a computer these days.

To illustrate the problem, Senator Bennett told the following stories: To
test a water treatment plant, the plant management rolled the clocks ahead
to 2000 to see how the computer systems of the plant would react.

The computer responded by immediately dumping all the chemicals it had
into the water supply instead of slowing dispensing the chemicals as it
was supposed to do.  The water was then poison and unusable.

At a General Motors factory, the management also rolled the clocks ahead
to see what would happen.  The result was that none of the robots on the
assembly line would work.  The factory was useless.

Moreover, when the inspectors tried to leave, the security system refused
to let them out of the building.  Elevators have to be inspected regularly
by law.  When the year 2000 hits, elevators may think they have not been
inspected for 99 years.  When an inspection is missed, most elevators are
programmed to go immediately to the basement and close their doors until
the inspector comes.

Don't get in an elevator New Year's Eve 1999.  In January 2000, Senator
Bennett does not think that the national power grid will fail, but thinks
that some areas will inevitably experience extended brown and black-cuts.

Supplies of natural gas and telephone communications could also be
interrupted.

Long distance telephone communications will almost certainly be
interrupted.

The FAA has been unable to guarantee that its airtraffic control system
will not fail in January 2000.  This may reduce domestic flight by 40% and
make it necessary to ration air travel.  International travel will be
worse.  The Federal Reserve thinks that it will be able to continue to
clear checks and other bank transactions for the country, but each
individual bank or brokerage may be unable to continue to do business.

Chairman Greenspan informed Senator Bennett that the Fed is printing an
extra ten billion in paper money to handle the run on the banks that is
expected as people convert their money into cash before Y2K.  Senator
Bennett told of warning one of his daughters about these problems.  His
daughter asked if he has spoken to the Church.  He thought that was good
idea, so he contacted an employee at Church headquarters responsible for
worrying about these kinds of problems.  That employee assured Senator
Bennett that the Church has, or is, upgrading all of its computer systems
to deal with the problem.  Senator Bennett then asked if he could question
this Church employee.

The senator wanted to know how the Church is going to contact missions,
temples and members around the world when the international and national
phone systems won't work; how the Church is going to transfer funds around
the world with the banking systems not working; how the Church will
respond to members who are out of work for three months or more because
the equipment at the factory or office where they are employed is
malfunctioning. The Church employee had to admit that while the Church has
fixed its own systems, they had never considered how they would be
affected by other systems that had not been fixed.

Senator Bennett was then invited to a meeting with the First Presidency,
Council of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, etc. to brief them on the Y2K
problem.  Senator Bennett told the Brethren that he had been asked by
someone in government when the Mormons were going to start warning their
people to get ready for the year 2000.  President Faust immediately
responded, "We've been warning them for thirty years."

A major complication of the Y2K problem is that it will be a problem
world-wide.  While all the problems I have described above will happen in
the U.S., we will be relatively well off.  Senator Bennett said only five
countries in the world including the U.S. are doing anything significant
to address the Y2K problem (Japan is NOT one of the five.

The five are the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Singapore and one other).

This will cause huge economic upheaval in many countries.  Senator Bennett
was informed that the New York Stock Exchange has been refitting and
testing its computers and thinks it will be able to continue trading in
the year 2000.  However, the Senator expects most exchanges in foreign
countries to be shut down.  For this reason, he cautioned us about
investing in foreign stocks.

It is anticipated that the economies of some countries will be devastated
for decades by the Y2K problem.  This anticipated turmoil around the globe
will inevitably cause a deep recession, at least, in the United States.

You may wonder why we don't just fix this problem before it's too late.

The answer is, it isn't possible.  Senator Bennett has been informed that
there are 160 billion lines of computer code around the world that have
the Y2K problem.  For every four lines that are fixed another error in the
program is created.  Therefore, everything has to be fixed, tested and
then re-fixed.  There simply are not enough skilled people or time left to
do the job.  Moreover, that does not include checking all the embedded
computer chips that run everything from your car's transmission to your
thermostat to your elevators to your children's toys.

Senator Bennett illustrated the cause of the Y2K problem with the
following Allegory.  A new wife was making a ham for her new husband.  She
cut off both ends.  When the husband asked why, she replied that it makes
the ham taste better.  "Who told you that?"' he asked. "My mother," she
replied.

The husband went to his mother-in-law and asked if she cut off the ends of
ham.  She replied that she did.  When he asked why, she replied that it
made the ham taste better.  When asked who had told her that, she
indicated that she had learned it from her mother.  The husband then went
to his wife's grandmother and asked if she cut the ends off a ham before
cooking it.  She said she did.  When he asked why, she replied that it was
just habit, when she was young, the family oven was too small for a whole
ham, so they cut the ends off to make it fit.

When computers were first being developed, they were not powerful enough
to easily process dates with a four digit year.  Early programmers used a
two-digit year and saved millions of dollars.

The early programmers, working in the '60s assumed that their programs
would be obsolete by the year 2000 and that later programmers would use
four digit years.  The new programmers learned from copying the old
programmers, and nobody ever started using four-digit years.  Anyway,
that's the problem, the question is what should you do about it.

Here are Senator Bennett's suggestions.

(1) Check with all your banks, brokerages, and other financial
institutions as to their preparedness for the year 2000.  If they can't
assure you that they will be able to continue to do business as usual,
move your assets to a place that can.

(2) Keep hard copies of your financial records and get up-to-date hard
copies near the end of December 1999.

(3) Have everything you need on hand for at least three months by December
1999 (food, water and fuel (January is cold)).

(4) Expect a recession in 2000 and plan your finances accordingly.  Keep
some cash on hand.

Needless to say, after listening to Senator Bennett we are very concerned
and are trying to get better prepared for this-crisis.

We hope this warning may help you do the same.

- -------------------------------

[This was forwarded to me by a friend, and I don't know what list Chris is
on]

Thanks to subscriber Chris Crosby <[e-mail]> for this reference.
In an article about the Y2K problem, the Richmond (Virginia)
Times-Dispatch mentions a Baptist group using the LDS cannery to preserve
some dried food.

"It's people like these who have transformed the quiet and rather obscure
Mormon cannery -- one of 88 in the country -- into a bustling enterprise,
said cannery manager Susan Henshaw.

"'Since July, everything has mushroomed... like a nuclear bomb,' Henshaw
said. 'It is just incredible.'

"She said they're happy to see the newcomers because it gives them a
chance to spread the Mormon faith, which has long stressed the importance
of food storage and self-sufficiency."

[It appears that Mormons are starting a panic, I hope it isn't a self
fulfilling prophecy]

- -----------------------------

Subject: Joseph Smith the prophet

Journal entry from the personal journal of Joseph Smith concerning the
remarkable Leonid meteor storm of 1833 (which also happened in 1866, 1899,
1932, 1965, and last night). From _The Diaries and Journals of Joseph
Smith_ edited by Scott H. Faulring.

Note: written material inserted above the line in the original has been
inserted into the text and enclosed in right-angled slashes (for example,
/above line/ ). Current editor's correction of mis-spelled items are in [
].

November 13th Nothing of note transpired from the 4th of Nove[m]ber
u[n]til this day. In the morning at 4 Oh clock I was awoke by Brother
Davis knocking at /my/ door saying "Brother Joseph come git /up/ and see
the signs in the heavens." I arrose and beheld to my great Joy the stars
fall from heaven. Yea they fell like hail stones. A litteral fullfillment
of the word of God as recorded in the holy scriptures and a sure sign that
the coming of Christ is clost [close] at hand.

Oh how marvellous are thy works Oh Lord and I thank thee for thy me[r]cy
u/n/to me thy

servent. Oh Lord save me in thy kingdom for Christ['s] sake.  Amen.

November 19th /AD 1833/ From the 13th u[n]till this date nothing of note
has transpired since the great sign in the heavins. This day me /h[e]art/
is somewhat sorrowfull but [I] feel to trust in the Lord the God of Jacob.

I have learned in my travels that man is treche[r]ous and selfish but few
excepted.

(continues on to remark on some weaknesses of Sidney Rigdon, does not
record anything else about the meteor storm.)

[This should temper those that wish to jump to conclusions about the
significance of the turn of the century, that are not justified.]

- ---------------------


[Now a closer look at what Bob Bennett had to say]


> banking systems not working; how the Church will respond to
> members who are out of work for three months or more because the
> equipment at the factory or office where they are employed is
> malfunctioning. The Church employee had to admit that while the
> Church has fixed its own systems, they had never considered how
> they would be affected by other systems that had not been fixed.


[Ah haaaaa, that is why GBH said last conference to get out the debt, the
Church Welfare can not handle millions of member and even more non-members
out of work for 3 moths!]


> Senator Bennett was then invited to a meeting with the First
> Presidency,
> Council of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, etc. to brief them on the
> Y2K

[Isn't this the cart before the horse?  Doesn't the 1st Presidency and 12
have the ear of GOD?  Shouldn't they REALLY know what Y2K problems there
will be?]


> problem.  Senator Bennett told the Brethren that he had been asked by
> someone in government when the Mormons were going to start warning
> their people to get ready for the year 2000.  President Faust
> immediately responded, "We've been warning them for thirty years."


[What!

The Y2K problem is a COBOL and PC problem.  Many Main frames store 4
digit dates properly.

30 years ago there were no PC's, with limited memory and hard disk space,
where 2 digits to represent a year would save something.

And I don't think the Leaders of the church were arguing COBOL programming
standards 30 years ago.

Therefore; Faust must be thinking that the world is ending in 2000?

What else could they be warning us about, the short term thinking of DOS
2.1 !!!!  Or Bios chips in IBM PC's ?

Did anyone see a proclamation by the 1st presidency, in the "Embedded
Systems Journal", for he last 30 years ?

When some Mormons make crack pot remark, many Mormons get worked up, and
then, when it turns out to be bogus, Members just ignore it.]

> A major complication of the Y2K problem is that it will be a problem
> world-wide.  While all the problems I have described above will happen
> in the U.S., we will be relatively well off.  Senator Bennett said only
> five  countries in the world including the U.S. are doing anything
> significant to address the Y2K problem (Japan is NOT one of the five.

[This IS a serious problem.]

> trading in the year 2000.  However, the Senator expects most
> exchanges in foreign countries to be shut down.  For this reason,

[So is the church pulling out of all of it's foreign stocks?

In which stocks does the church keep the lords money anyway?]


> he cautioned us about investing in foreign stocks.  It is anticipated
> that the economies of some countries will be devastated for decades
> by the Y2K problem.  This anticipated turmoil around the globe will
> inevitably cause a deep recession, at least, in the United  States.
> You may wonder why we don't just fix this problem before it's too late.

[We can not fix other countries problems.

Well actually we could.  All male programers, and software managers, could
be called on a 6 month to 12 month mission to SAVE THE WORLD FROM Y2K.
They could go out in Jan of 1999 and be home before Xmas having at least
informed and consulted all major banks and businesses world wide about the
evils of Y2K.

Not that might create major chaos at home in Utah with all of them leaving
work for 6 months to a year, but hardly unlike what was done by their
GGGrand fathers.

And if they saved the world, it could do more PR than all the public
Service Announcements and Free books and warm fuzzy video's could possibly
do.]


> The  answer is, it isn't possible.  Senator Bennett has been informed
> that there are 160 billion lines of computer code around the world
> that have the Y2K problem.  For every four lines that are fixed another
> error in the program is created.  Therefore, everything has to be fixed,


[Oh MY Goodness!  How could we ever get anything done, if we created a bug
for every 4 lines of code.

In software testing the term we use is bugs per kloc or bugs for Thousand
Lines of Code.  If you have 5 or more KLOC, you have bad programmers.  Now
imagine how stupid they would have to be to have 250 mistakes for every
1000 lines of code.

With an average of 1 mistake in every 4 lines or 250 mistakes in a
thousand, how do we ever get computers to work at all!!!

Apparently Bob Bennett doesn't know much about computers.]

I know someone that worked on a project where we had 1,600 programs to
check for Y2K bugs, 35 programs has had at least one problem.  Of the 35
only one or two had a problem in more than one place in the same program.
The largest program was 4,200 lines long.  So they did lots of work, and
came up with only a handful of programs that had any problem.  It only
took a few weeks to change them.  Of the 35 changed programs only one had
needed fixing twice.  In the process there were other programs, not Y2K
related in which bugs were found and fixed.

His company is not typical of other software houses because they do not
use
COBOL, but they use the OS that the church office Building USED to use,
before they went into a more expensive direction.

Note that Australia uses this type of OS/database in many many companies,
therefore watch for them to NOT have Y2K problems like other countries.]


> tested and then re-fixed.  There simply are not enough skilled people
> or time left to do the  job.  Moreover, that does not include checking
> all the embedded computer chips that run everything from your
> car's transmission to your thermostat to your elevators to your
> children's toys.


[When they started the project over a year ago, the deadline to have
everything done and installed was July 1st 1998, now it is July 1999.  So
even though they started early, they got behind.  There are too many lines
of code and not enough programmers and not enough time for other companies
to fix, test and implement all the fixes.

Yes Y2K will be a problem, but if your kids toy fails to work, obviously
you
are not a 3rd world Mormon.]


> When computers were first being developed, they were not powerful
> enough to easily process dates with a four digit year.  Early
> programmers used a two-digit year and saved millions of dollars.

[The extra 2 digits for a 4 digit year, it take up precious memory in Ram
and Hard disk for a personal PC.  Which was a glorified typewriter and
calculator, not a replacement for a mainframe computer.  As the cost of
memory and hard disk space was no longer an issue, then is when the 4
digit year should have been addressed.

Businesses choose to us a personal computer as a business computer and
they
bent over to save millions for a few years, while down the road, it will
cost them Billions for those savings in previous decades.

Typical current quarter bottom line mentality, without long term
analysis.]


> The early programmers, working in the '60s assumed that their
> programs would be obsolete by the year 2000 and that later
> programmers would use four digit years.  The new programmers
> learned from copying the old programmers, and nobody ever
> started using four-digit years.  Anyway, that's the problem, the
> question is what should you do about it.

[More precisely they didn't stop to think, even though 1999 is less then
2000, that mathematically 99 is more than 00.]


> Here are Senator Bennett's suggestions.
> (1) Check with all your banks, brokerages, and other financial
> institutions as to their preparedness for the year 2000.  If they can't
> assure you that they will be able to continue to do business as usual,
> move your assets to a place that can.

[Come on Bob, you LIVE in DC, what Bank is going to tell you the they are
NOT Y2K compliant or that they don't plan to be?  Are they going to tell
you they PLAN to be out of business before 2000 ?

Try getting it in writing, that if you don't have access to your money or
if they debit you with mistaken late fees, that you will richly
compensated
for it.  Or if your Credit card get's wrongly rejected that they will
compensate you for the trouble.

Come on Bob you were once a lawyer.]


> (2) Keep hard copies of your financial records and get
> up-to-date hard copies near the end of December 1999.


[When these businesses are going to be their busiest, Bob is going to
create more work for them, out of paranoia.

A self fulfilling prophecy.]


> (3) Have everything you need on hand for at least three months
> by December 1999 (food, water and fuel (January is cold)).

[It's a TWO years supply, Bob, don't you know how to create hoarding or a
panic!  :)

Now how can I store 3 months of natural Gas ?

And if I do, but it is NOT needed, then what do I do with the Gas and
storage tanks?

What do I do for hot water if it takes 6 months to work things out?

Convert my environmentally friendly gas fireplace to a wood stove?]


> (4) Expect a recession in 2000 and plan your finances
> accordingly.  Keep some cash on hand.


[Create an artificial run on the banks.

Now who is going to make money on this?

Not me for sure.]


> Needless to say, after listening to Senator Bennett we are very
> concerned and are trying to get better prepared for this-crisis.
> We hope this warning  may help you do the same.

[And though a little preparation, like a month of food may be good, much
other than that, will cause problems of their own.  During the Great
Depression, some people lost everything, and a few ended up with all that
the other people lost.  I hope we are not contributors to a situation
where greedy and powerful people can use panic to become even more wealthy
and powerful.]



Perry     <[e-mail]>    http://pobox.com/~plporter

- -

------------------------------

End of gdm-digest V2 #13
************************